Standstill
by MentallyMelodic
Summary: For Len, the world was an almost unseen and unexplored place. However, when Rin comes home with Miku and Kaito, Len slowly starts to open up to the aspect of entering the world.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Ah, I should finish my other story but…meh. I'll post this anyways ….**

**Anyways, I am obsessed with Vocaloid now. GET READY LEN!**

**Len: Wait WHAT?**

**Disclaimer I do not own…..I wish though…I am going to Japan in September so I'll see how stealing the rights to Vocaloid goes ^^**

"Len, I'm going out with Kaito and Miku, ok? I'll be back before five, and you BETTER HAVE FINISHED THOSE THERAPY EXERCISES BY THE TIME I GET BACK!" barked Rin.

"Yes, Rin, I promise," Len mumbled meekly.

"Good boy! Now behave!"

"Not that I can do anything…" muttered Len as Rin turned her back to him and the bed he was bound to.

"What was that?" asked Rin as she spun around on her heels.

"Never mind!"

"I thought so!"

Before she left, Rin made sure that Len had enough blankets to suffocate him, that "Mr Banana" was with him, and that he had his book, "To Kill a Mockingbird" and the entire "Harry Potter" series to keep him occupied in the 6 hours that he would be isolated in the white, cluttered "bedroom" that Len pretty much lived in.

Rin gave one last glance towards her brother, then quietly shut the door. When on the other side of the door, she slid down towards the floor, and let out a few quiet sobs.

"Why Len?"

After drying her eyes, she picked herself up, slapped a smile on her face, and forced herself to skip out of the door.

After all, Len had told her to be happy for him.

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Len sighed as Rin shut the door to his room. Making sure that nobody was watching, he pulled out a pencil and a small sketchbook from underneath his bed. Strictly speaking, he should either be sleeping or doing the limited amount of exercise he could do, but he really wasn't bothered to exercise, and he had been sleeping for the past day or so. He doodled all over the page, not bothering to see what he was drawing. Nobody saw the book anyways.

After cramming all the doodles he could on one page, Len decided to follow Rin's instructions, or risk getting roasted alive. 3 star jumps, walking from one end of his room to the other then going back again then repeat, and 5 lunges. It took half an hour. He thought that it was a little bit sad, considering that he had been at the top of his sport class in primary school, and now he was limited to simple movements.

Three years ago, he could run three kilometres in ten minutes. Now, he required ten minutes for only thirty metres at a comfortable pace. All that cross country practise had gone down the drain.

Len sighed and bit his lip, trying to force the depressing thoughts away, feeling slightly despondent after sinking down in thought. He settled back down in his bed, held Mr Banana close, then lost himself inside the world of a book.

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"Rin! Ice-cream?" sang Kaito.

Rin, however, was zoned out and not concentrating on Kaito's words. She was instead worrying about Len. This would be the first time that Rin had left him at home by himself for longer than two hours. However, he almost forced her to go, making his way to the telephone to call Kaito and Miku, making his best impression of her, which was actually surprisingly accurate.

Her brother was too stubborn for his own good sometimes. He refused to get into his wheelchair, forced Rin to go out with her friends, and only agreed to see his doctor every three months.

"Rin! Would you like ice-cream?" Kaito screamed directly into Rin's ear, jolting her out of her thoughts.

Rin's natural instinct fired up, and she slapped him, then kicked him in the shins. She put him in a deadlock, threatening to run him over with a road-roller, then realised that it was Kaito. She let him go, albeit a little bit crossly.

"Kaito! She was in a train of thought! You don't usually interrupt those. You deserve it!" scolded Miku.

"Yes, Missus Hatsune!" Kaito groaned in a monotone voice, rubbing his cheek from where Rin had slapped him.

"Don't call me that!" muttered Miku.  
"So Rin, whatcha thinking about?"

"My brother. He's alone at home at the mo-"

"OOOH YOUR BROTHER! I haven't seen him in AGES!" squealed Miku.

"Yeah, well that's cause he can't really move or get out of the house right now."

"Why don't we go and see him after ice-cream?" asked Kaito.

"S-sure! I'll pay for the ice-cream!" said Rin. This was good-Len barely had any human contact in the past half a year.

Maybe this would cheer him up.

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Len had been singing quietly to himself for the past hour or so. While in the middle of "Servant of Evil", there was a loud bang and a voice as he got to the silence where the guillotine sound was. There was the distinct sound of Rin yelling at somebody not to slam the door, and another two voices meekly voicing an apology. Len was glad that Rin had brought friends over. It meant that she had a social life instead of constantly being cooped up in a small house with her boring, disabled little brother.

"Len! I'm home! You'd BETTER HAVE FINISHED THOSE THERAPY EXERCISES!" Rin screamed, as she stomped through the hallway.

"YES, I DID THEM RIN! WHO'S WITH YOU?" Len screeched back.

"MIKU AND KAITO! I'M COMING UP WITH THEM NOW!"

"NO PROBLEM!"

Rin's head poked into view from the doorway, followed by her friends' heads. He remembered them now- they used to play together in primary school sometimes. Well, actually, Len used to be a loner sometimes, sticking to the library instead of playing like other children every so often. Rin often told him that he didn't look tan enough, and that it was part of the reason why he was so shota. He slapped her quite hard after that comment was made.

"Uh, hi Len! Remember me? Miku, remember?" Miku said cheerfully.

"Yeah, I do. And that's Kaito, yes?"

"Yup! I brought ice-cream!" cheered Kaito.

"Wait what? Since when?" screeched Rin.

"Um, since we left? I bought a giant tub for us to share! It's in the car though," muttered Kaito.

"Why don't we all go down together? Len needs to get ready for human contact," said Rin, looking pointedly at Len, then at the wardrobe. Len got the point.

"Sure!" replied both Miku and Kaito.

"Ugh…ok," sighed Len.

Len groaned, then started pulling himself out of his comfortable bed. He had a small table in the centre of his room, which wasn't really that far away. However, that didn't mean that it was a huge task for him. Len focused on putting one foot in front of the other, continuously struggling to do the simple task.

When Len reached the small table, having pulled a hoodie on with great difficulty, Kaito, Miku and Rin had reappeared from the car, having retrieved the ice-cream tub. Len realised that Rin may have simply convinced both of them to go so that he didn't feel awkward.

"It's mango, I hope you like it!" grinned Kaito.

"Mmm….mango's alright. I actually prefer banana, really. But mango's good," murmured Len.

"Ok, we'll get banana next time!" smiled Miku.

"Wait-you're coming again?" asked Len in surprise. Sure, he loved the company, but he thought that he was one of the most boring people in the world.

"Of course! Why wouldn't we? Unless you hate us being here, I see no reason as to why we should stop coming over. Do you hate us being here?" asked Kaito.

"No, no, don't worry, it's just because Len doesn't socialise very much. He can't, actually," sighed Rin in a response in behalf of the frozen-up Len.

"Wait, what do you mean he can't?" asked Miku.

"Um, never mind, I never said that!" yelled a panicking Rin.

"Rin? It's ok, they're going to find out eventually, knowing them," sighed Len.

Kaito and Miku shared devilish grins, they did have their certain ways. Some of which included threatening people for information with negi and ice-cream and hacking into multiple files which nobody else knew existed.

"Yeah, just tell us!"

"We don't bite! Well, maybe Kaito does, but I don't!"

"Hey!"

Len grinned to himself. Yes, this was why they were his friends.

"Yeah, yeah, ok. Len happens to have muscular dystrophy. Well, to be specific, limb-girdle muscular dystrophy," muttered Rin.

Kaito and Miku shared a confused look.

"It means that I can't move as well as normal people. It's really severe in my case, and so in a few years I might-"

"Ok Len! No depressing thoughts now, there's ice-cream, time to be cheerful!" grinned Rin, suddenly back to her loud self.

"YEAH!" cheered Kaito and Miku.

Len simply gave a small smile.

"Sure."

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**A/N Ok, yeah, I know that I shouldn't be starting a new story but me=meh. Yeah, this may actually not be funny for a change…. We'll see :P.**

**Also, I do NOT, I repeat, do NOT intend to offend anybody with muscular dystrophy. SORRY IF I DO T.T**

**~MentallyMelodic**


	2. Chapter 2

**Muahahaha, half yearlies? Nup, motivation gone. Instead? FANFICTION! :D**

**~Enjoy~**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ANYTHING. ANYTHING, I TELL YOU.**

After a whole afternoon of ice-cream and chatting, Miku and Kaito left the Kagamine household at about seven in the evening. Rin sighed. Her parents hardly ever came home early, as they had to work for many hours to fund the research into limb-girdle muscle dystrophy, in hopes of curing the unfortunate case of their son. So, instead of parental care, Rin was often the one landed with the job of caring for her little brother- cooking and helping him eat, assisting him whenever he required it, observing his exercises and making notes about anything, tracking the downfall of his body. More than often, she didn't mind, but sometimes, she just wanted to be a child again, not caring about anything.

"LEN! I'M COMING UP WITH FOOD!" screamed Rin, stomping as she made her way to Len's bedroom to enforce the fact that she was approaching.

"Sure, sure. I'm not doing anything anyways…" sighed Len.

"Do I need to feed you this time? Or can you pick up a spoon like a _Big Boy_?" teased Rin.

"I think that I can pick up utensils today. It would be nice if you could get me a straw for my water, though," chuckled Len.

"Ah-hang on-" muttered Rin as she searched for a straw, finally settling for a yellow one that she had found in one of the many drawers in Len's room. Actually, the reason why Len had his own room was not because he wanted privacy. Quite to the contrary, actually, he just simply did not have enough space for all the things he required to help him both move and live, for example, there was an unused wheelchair in the corner of his room, and a back-brace for the days in which he could not sit up on his own. Sadly, those days were quite frequent.

Despite owning one, Len absolutely refused in using the wheelchair. He detested it, even going as far as using it as an "emergency food supply" pantry, with the bananas on the chair, oranges in the front basket, tinned food on one side, and water bottles on the other. Needless to say, their parents had removed all the food when Len was sleeping.

"Rin! Can I talk to you? As in, a serious talk?" asked Len, a little bit quietly.

"Um, sure, why would I say no?"

Len swallowed, then began speaking.

"Well, tell me truthfully, Rin. Am I an absolute pain in the neck, and the most annoying thing in the world?" asked Len, eyes downcast and face flushing slightly.

"W-what kind of question is THAT Len?" shot Rin, a little bit more harshly than she intended.

"A serious one! I told you before we started talking!" sighed Len.

"Well, I don't think that it's YOU that's annoying. It's more the stupid disease and what it's doing to you!" muttered Rin.

"Yeah, well, it's me you have to care for, it's me that can't do anything by himself, me who you're sacrificing everything for, and it's what this stupid disease is doing to YOU!" sighed Len, who looked like he was on the verge of breaking down.

Rin looked sorrowfully at her brother. She knew that he had self-esteem problems, but not that they were so serious. He always looked so strong, and steady, supporting Rin, even though he had such a serious condition.

"Len, look at me. If I didn't want to care for you, I probably wouldn't. You know me, right?" murmured Rin.

"Well yes, but-"

"And also, who refuses to use his wheelchair, insisting on helping around the house despite how difficult it is for him to move?"

"But aren't-"

"And who's the one sacrificing everything for me to cling on to what social life I have?"

"But you-"

"And who's the one who is facing the possibility of an early demise?"

"But you aren't-"

Rin just broke down on the last sentence. She placed her face on the table that they were eating on, and sobbed. She hated admitting that Len could die of suffocation or heart disease. She hated acknowledging that it was that serious. She hated admitting that the disease was real, and was so serious.

A pair of arms wrapped around her head after a few minutes. She felt a few drops of tears dampening her hair, running down her head and mingling with hers. She swivelled around and hugged Len's waist. Together, they sobbed for what seemed like forever.

For them, the world came to a standstill, as they drained their unshed and unshared tears.

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Len woke up in his bed, with Rin having disappeared. He rubbed his eyes slowly, then found Mr Banana trapped in his arms. Len sighed, and continued lying in his bed, thinking about what Rin had said to him last night. While it was true that he probably was the one suffering the worst effects, Rin also suffered a great deal, sacrificing her very large social life, and although she didn't suspect that Len knew, he was sure that Rin had broken down before many times. Sometimes, he wished that he could be more helpful instead of being a paperweight for his bed.

Len sighed again and stared out at the window. It was a bright day, with a robin singing in one of the branches of the willow tree. Len wished that he could be a bird. Not only because of the freedom it provided, but also the ability to move so freely.

Len tried to get out of his bed. Nothing happened. He tried again. Nothing. After several more tries, he ended up having to ask Rin for help. He was getting worse. Not only could he tell, but Rin could as well, and Len knew that it was probably killing her on the inside.

It was then that Len decided to be stronger as his body became weaker.

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It was then time for Rin to go to school. However much Len wanted to be with his sister, he was decidedly against the wheelchair, and so was therefore limited to where he could go. Instead, he was home-schooled by his teacher, Gakupo. While Gakupo was normally a placid, nice man, if anybody pressed his buttons, he tended to bring out his katana which he claimed was "a family hand-down" from his grandfather's uncle's aunt's father's brother. Everybody knew that it was a cover-up from the fact that he had bought it from a garage sale, and the long family line was simply that long to confuse pretty much everyone.

Gakupo's purple car decorated with eggplant stickers pulled up into the driveway. Gakupo opened the door with his very own key that Len's parents had made specifically for him so that Len wouldn't have to get up, and Gakupo wouldn't have to wait half an hour to be let in.

Gakupo walked into Len's room with two laptops, five textbooks and several exercise books, with his katana balancing precariously on the top, covered with what appeared to be crumbs of a chocolate cake. Len eyed the katana nervously as Gakupo carelessly dropped everything onto the ground, resulting in a loud bang.

"Well, the laptops are probably screwed up now," commented Len calmly.

"Well, that's why we have two, correct? Now, let's start with maths," said Gakupo, as equally calmly as Len.

Len groaned inwardly. He absolutely HATED maths.

"Oh, COME ON. Can't we start with something more interesting?" sighed Len.

"You're right, it will get you more engaged in today's lessons. How about we start with history?" asked Gakupo.

Right before Len could protest, Gakupo launched into a lesson of the bubonic plague.

Len decided that he should have kept his mouth shut, and tears of boredom formed in his eyes.

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"RINRINRINRINRINRINRIN!" screamed Kaito and Miku as she entered the classroom.

"MIKUKAITOMIKUKAITOMIKUKAITO WHAT IS IT?" screamed Rin in response.

Miku and Kaito both took a giant breath, then burst out,

"GUESS WHAT GUESS WHAT GUESS WHAT?"

"WHAT?" screeched Rin.

"Would your brother like to come with us to…THE CINEMA?" cheered Miku and Kaito.

"WHATWAITWHEN?" screamed Rin, her voice becoming hoarse.

"Well, since he seemed so deprived of human FUN, we decided that we should treat him to some! You know, 'cause it seems so lonely being stuck at home all day," explained Miku.

"Plus, he said that he wanted banana ice-cream!" exclaimed Kaito, only to be whacked on the head with a negi by Miku.

"So, what do you say?" asked both Miku and Kaito.

Rin wondered why they were asking her, instead of Len about whether he wanted to go out. However, she decided that it would either be payback for forcing her to go out for several hours, or it would provide him with an admittedly strange social life. However, Rin realised that Len would probably refuse to get into the wheelchair. Oh well. She could drug him, then tie him up into it. Not really a problem there.

"Sure, he would absolutely LOVE to go!"

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Len was not happy about being strapped to a stupid wheelchair. In fact, he was beyond furious. He would have thrown the wheelchair out the window the minute Rin had told him about the plan to go to see the Avengers with Miku and Kaito. If only he could. If only.

Currently, he was bound tightly to the stupid reminder of his lack of ability to move. That was actually the reason why he hated it. It reminded him that he was an almost useless lump of flesh that couldn't even move properly. It reminded him about the ridiculously long hours his parents had to work. It reminded him about how Rin was dumped with the responsibility of him.

He hated that.

After much protesting, Rin was pushing him out of the house, and into the fresh air that Len had not been exposed to for a month or two. It would have been refreshing, if he were not in the wheelchair. Len bit his lip-he couldn't think about that now.

Rin then pushed him into the train station. Len hated the stares and sympathetic looks he received from strangers. They didn't even know what it was like. After noticing his sombre mood, Rin cast dirty looks and screamed at the people who stared at Len, scaring off multitudes of people.

After what seemed like an eternity, Rin and Len finally reached the cinema, and found Miku and Kaito.

"So you ended up forcing him into the wheelchair, I see," chuckled Miku.

Len simply "humph"ed and Rin grinned.

"Well, I bought a tub of ice-cream, so why don't we go in? It's banana this time," grinned Kaito.

Len stuck out his tongue, but was secretly glad that there were some people who treated him like a normal, functioning human.

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Len had to admit, the movie time wasn't that bad. Sure, Kaito had spilt ice-cream over Rin, causing her to explode and almost get kicked out of the cinema, and Miku had thrown a negi at every single villain who had gotten any screen time, but he certainly had fun. He realised that he hadn't experienced fun in a long time.

Going back home, Len didn't even care about the people who stared at him. He was too busy chatting to Miku, Kaito and Rin about the movie, dissing all the bad guys, laughing at the ridiculously long time it took for the citizens to run to safety after witnessing an alien force attempting to exterminate the city, and pointing out minor flaws in pretty much anything.

Even when they had gotten back into his room he had fun. Despite the fact that Len had been hoisted above everybody's heads, almost gotten thrown back into his bed, then become the main victim of a horrifying tickle war, he had fun.

For the whole of the afternoon, Len simply felt as if the world was his.

Yes, Len could certainly become used to this "fun".

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**A/N  Ok, I have come up with an AWESOME way to keep churning out chapters. Ok, for every chapter, there's a song reference or the name of a song is mentioned. The first person to review with the name of the song will get a request, and if I don't want a request, I'll state so at the start :D **

**Note: I will still keep to my own storyline, and the pairing is Len x Miku (although you can't really tell now), so no Katio x Len or Rin x Len. Also, no… 18+ material. Please, just, no. If I feel that your request is unreasonable, I may reject it. I'm sorry if I do T.T**

**ANYWAYS **

**Woot! I passed the 2000 word barrier! YAY! (^^)**

**Anyways, this chapter was both angsty and fluffy. This was actually the first time I have written any form of fluff, whether it be bittersweet or not, so I apologise if I stuffed it up.**

**ANYWAYS, as I have said before. HALF YEARLIES HALF SHMEARLIES. STUFF EXAMS. XP**

**~MentallyMelodic**


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